Overview

"The first volume of Fletcher Hanks stories, I Shall Destroy All CivilizedPlanets! (now in its fourth printing) was an Eisner Award-winning smash hit and a staple on ""Best of the Year"" lists. Edited by cartoonist Paul Karasik, this second volume, You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation, collects all of the rest of Hanks comic book work. The thirty-one tales in this book, when combined with the first volume, will comprise The Complete Fletcher Hanks! Fletcher Hanks was the first great comic book auteur: that is, he wrote, penciled, inked and lettered all of his own stories, many of which feature the cold space wizard superhero Stardust or the jungle protectress Fantomah. Today's mature readers - both comics fans and non-comics fans who learned about the book from magazines such as The Believer and other journals - are stunned by these comics' pop surrealism and outright violent mayhem."

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9781606991602

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Reviews

One of the greatest comic book talents you've never heard of.... If you want to understand the essence of comic books in their purest form then pick up You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! and learn. -- Iann Robinson The work in You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! (produced entirely by Hanks, at breakneck speed) might be testament to rage-filled, borderline psychosis but it's thrillingly vital and magnificently (uniquely) strange for all that. Once you see one of Super Wizard Stardust 's grotesquely ironic punishments or blonde bombshell Fantomah 's inexplicable transformations to skull-headed jungle avenger, it 's impossible to look away. Fantagraphics and Editor Paul Karasik take a return trip inside Hanks demented psyche, collecting the entire remaining chunk of the uniquely unsettling work from this do-it-all Golden Age cartoonist of singular, warped vision. One of the greatest comic book talents you ve never heard of.... If you want to understand the essence of comic books in their purest form then pick up You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! and learn. --Iann Robinson An unforgettable look back at one of Golden Age comics' greatest and most unlikely talents. --Tom Spurgeon Hanks' groove, taken back to back like this, is unsettling... It can be downright creepy. Generally, when you talk about a comic auteur's 'issues, ' you're talking page count, not whether he has his head screwed on straight. It's multiplied by Hanks' art style, which at first seems crude but is actually quite stylized and consistent. Many images, such as troupes of unfortunates flying in hurtling, screaming weightlessness, have the impact of nightmares... And the twisted comics universe once inhabited by Fletcher Hanks is eerie and unsettling, and fascinating in what it reveals about the man with the pen. --Burl Burlingame There is such a relentlessly fervid, even crazed, sheen to all [Fletcher Hanks 's] work, that you can't look away. ... Hanks seemed nearly demon-driven in these stories of constant fighting, killing, betrayal and revenge. The panels are often cramped, and the color schemes are nearly incandescent, and you're not sure whether to liken the rawness of it all elastic, rubber-boned physiognomies included to listening to a record by Fear, circa 1980, or watching a half-dressed man shouting on the corner. --Mark London Williams Fletcher Hanks was an early, forgotten great of comics: He drew from 1939-1941, and his work is vivid, funny and incredibly surreal... Hanks' work evokes a childlike energy that makes it seem as if he drew as much for himself as he did for the rest of the world. That creative spirit never goes out of style. --Whitney Matheson Pop Candy As much as I ve been looking forward to the second collection, I honestly thought there was no way it could be as crazy, awesome, or crazy-awesome as the first one. I was wrong.--Chris Sims Hanks hyperactive, colorful, robust, and crazy disproportionate art is perfectly matched to his over-the-top storytelling Hanks left behind a body of work that s compelling to read simply because it s so lunatic and inadvertently hilarious. There are few artists, from the Golden Age to today, that so deftly blended goofy dialogue with terrifying violence and surreal situations; for better or worse, Hanks was a real original. [T]hese extraordinary visions from a different, four-colour era are as bold and striking as they are violent and strange.... Classic comics from a different age. Back in the Golden Age of comics there were few comic auteurs but Fletcher Hanks was one of the few. ... The stories are weird and grim. The art is unprofessional and beautiful.--Nick Gazin Fletcher Hanks was one strange, f-ed up bastard who created some of the weirdest, creepiest, and (entirely by accident) most revealing comics of the Golden Era.--Steve Hockensmith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Once you see one of Super Wizard Stardust s grotesquely ironic punishments or blonde bombshell Fantomah s inexplicable transformations to skull-headed jungle avenger, it s impossible to look away. Fantagraphics and Editor Paul Karasik take a return trip inside Hanks demented psyche, collecting the entire remaining chunk of the uniquely unsettling work from this do-it-all Golden Age cartoonist of singular, warped vision. [T]hese surreal tales from the dawn of the super hero are uncompromisingly vivid, brutal, and at times, completely insane! ... Imagine reading this in the 1940s! It must have scared the crap out of people then, and it still remains eerie and bizarre even to this day!--Edward Kaye The Best Graphic Novels of 2009 Gathers all the remaining material that the alcoholic, abusive [Fletcher] Hanks did during his brief tenure as a comic book creator in the late 1930s and early 40s... [T]here's still plenty of weird and wonderful tales to delight and disturb... [and] there are panels here that are rather stunning in their ability to create tension and drama... The work remains strange, powerful, funny, terrifying and yes, at times beautiful.--Chris Mautner Hanks' hyperactive, colorful, robust, and crazy disproportionate art is perfectly matched to his over-the-top storytelling...Hanks left behind a body of work that's compelling to read simply because it's so lunatic and inadvertently hilarious. There are few artists, from the Golden Age to today, that so deftly blended goofy dialogue with terrifying violence and surreal situations; for better or worse, Hanks was a real original. As much as I've been looking forward to the second collection, I honestly thought there was no way it could be as crazy, awesome, or crazy-awesome as the first one. I was wrong.--Chris Sims A vessel of combined artistry and wrath, whose published legacy is as nightmarish as it is brilliant. The art reproductions capture vividly both Hanks' aggressive drawing style and the garish colors of the original Depression-into-wartime publications.--Michael H. Price Crude but powerful drawings; an eye-shattering color palette; helter-skelter plotting, often with anticlimactic, fall-off-the-cliff endings...terror and glee at the misery of humanity, salted with some token of morality. Yes, that's the Fletcher Hanks formula for a unique, unforgettable, Golden Age comics masterpiece.--Paul Di Filippo Once you see one of Super Wizard Stardust's grotesquely ironic punishments or blonde bombshell Fantomah's inexplicable transformations to skull-headed jungle avenger, it's impossible to look away. Fantagraphics and Editor Paul Karasik take a return trip inside Hanks' demented psyche, collecting the entire remaining chunk of the uniquely unsettling work from this do-it-all Golden Age cartoonist of singular, warped vision. I mean, holy. Effing. S---... Was Hanks insane or otherwise mentally handicapped? Dunno, but as editor Paul Karasik points out in his meaty introduction, this was a man mean enough to kick his 4-year-old son down a flight of stairs... You'll love how much you hate [these works]; you'll hate how much you love them.--Rod Lott

One of the greatest comic book talents you've never heard of.... If you want to understand the essence of comic books in their purest form then pick up You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! and learn. -- Iann Robinson

Fletcher Hanks was one strange, f-ed up bastard who created some of the weirdest, creepiest, and (entirely by accident) most revealing comics of the Golden Era.--Steve Hockensmith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

There is such a relentlessly fervid, even crazed, sheen to all [Fletcher Hanks 's] work, that you can't look away. ... Hanks seemed nearly demon-driven in these stories of constant fighting, killing, betrayal and revenge. The panels are often cramped, and the color schemes are nearly incandescent, and you're not sure whether to liken the rawness of it all elastic, rubber-boned physiognomies included to listening to a record by Fear, circa 1980, or watching a half-dressed man shouting on the corner. --Mark London Williams

Back in the Golden Age of comics there were few comic auteurs but Fletcher Hanks was one of the few. ... The stories are weird and grim. The art is unprofessional and beautiful.--Nick Gazin [T]hese surreal tales from the dawn of the super hero are uncompromisingly vivid, brutal, and at times, completely insane! ... Imagine reading this in the 1940s! It must have scared the crap out of people then, and it still remains eerie and bizarre even to this day!--Edward Kaye The Best Graphic Novels of 2009 Fletcher Hanks was one strange, f-ed up bastard who created some of the weirdest, creepiest, and (entirely by accident) most revealing comics of the Golden Era.--Steve Hockensmith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies [T]hese extraordinary visions from a different, four-colour era are as bold and striking as they are violent and strange.... Classic comics from a different age. Gathers all the remaining material that the alcoholic, abusive [Fletcher] Hanks did during his brief tenure as a comic book creator in the late 1930s and early 40s... [T]here's still plenty of weird and wonderful tales to delight and disturb... [and] there are panels here that are rather stunning in their ability to create tension and drama... The work remains strange, powerful, funny, terrifying and yes, at times beautiful.--Chris Mautner Once you see one of Super Wizard Stardust's grotesquely ironic punishments or blonde bombshell Fantomah's inexplicable transformations to skull-headed jungle avenger, it's impossible to look away. Fantagraphics and Editor Paul Karasik take a return trip inside Hanks' demented psyche, collecting the entire remaining chunk of the uniquely unsettling work from this do-it-all Golden Age cartoonist of singular, warped vision. A vessel of combined artistry and wrath, whose published legacy is as nightmarish as it is brilliant. The art reproductions capture vividly both Hanks' aggressive drawing style and the garish colors of the original Depression-into-wartime publications.--Michael H. Price Crude but powerful drawings; an eye-shattering color palette; helter-skelter plotting, often with anticlimactic, fall-off-the-cliff endings...terror and glee at the misery of humanity, salted with some token of morality. Yes, that's the Fletcher Hanks formula for a unique, unforgettable, Golden Age comics masterpiece.--Paul Di Filippo Hanks' hyperactive, colorful, robust, and crazy disproportionate art is perfectly matched to his over-the-top storytelling...Hanks left behind a body of work that's compelling to read simply because it's so lunatic and inadvertently hilarious. There are few artists, from the Golden Age to today, that so deftly blended goofy dialogue with terrifying violence and surreal situations; for better or worse, Hanks was a real original. As much as I've been looking forward to the second collection, I honestly thought there was no way it could be as crazy, awesome, or crazy-awesome as the first one. I was wrong.--Chris Sims I mean, holy. Effing. S---... Was Hanks insane or otherwise mentally handicapped? Dunno, but as editor Paul Karasik points out in his meaty introduction, this was a man mean enough to kick his 4-year-old son down a flight of stairs... You'll love how much you hate [these works]; you'll hate how much you love them.--Rod Lott

Author Information

Fletcher Hanks (1889-1976) is an artist who, under various pseudonyms, wrote, drew, penciled, and inked his entire body of comics work from 1939-1941. Some consider his Fantomah character to be the first female superhero. He was an abusive alcoholic who was found frozen to death on a park bench. Paul Karasik is the co-author (along with David Mazzucchelli) of the perennial graphic novel classic City of Glass, adapted from Paul Auster's novel. He lives in Martha's Vineyard.

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